


The Moth and the Flame

by Issylang



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: American AU, F/M, Frank and Alice are just implied, Modern AU, Muggle AU, as well as remus and Mary, festival au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-02
Updated: 2016-10-02
Packaged: 2018-08-19 00:32:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8182049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Issylang/pseuds/Issylang
Summary: Dorcas found a campsite with cute boys. Marlene suggested a drinking contest. Lily wins. Hungover Lily runs into the cutie with the messy hair in the festival the next day. Said festival unfolds as festivals generally do. Modern!Muggle!American!Festival!AU (that’s a lot of AUs) Warnings: language, drug use mention





	

**Author's Note:**

> I did it. I finished my jilyfest piece on time. Thanks for everyone’s support, especially snapslikethis and fetchalgernon for hosting it. This is the most accomplished I have felt since June Fourth (Graduation). I started this in health class in April while watching some movie (that’s all we ever did). And then I saw the Jilyfest post and then I went to the festival that this takes place at the weekend before I wrote this. I literally live in Dover, Delaware. So here it is.

*S*  
Sirius Black had 13 tattoos. He loved them. (His favorite was his paw print. It meant the most.) His best friend, however, had a measly three. One was a pair of antlers. (For their friend group. They matched Sirius’s paw print.) One was a watercolor stag. (He was an artist, so watercolor. It lined up with Sirius’s dog made out of music notes.)(This was Sirius’s favorite on James.) The last one was a small moth flying around a fire. (This one had a long ass story involved that James and Lily (she had a matching one) rarely told. So Sirius got them really drunk and had them tell it, and then he wrote it down to share with the public.)   
(James has a copy framed on his wall.)

*L*  
It was hot. Like, so hot that it felt like she was being smothered and would gladly slaughter all 90,000 other people at this festival for the semblance of cool air. And, to top it all off, she was obnoxiously hungover from last night after Dorcas dragged her off to some boys’ campsite and she had to prove that she could drink them all under the table (which she did). Lily was alone (the rest of her group were still passed out at the campsite) with no booze, no weed, no money, a nearly dead phone, and a killer headache. (Optimistic and hungover as she was when she left the campsite she truly believed that she would make it back for a nap and her stuff. What a naïve girl she was in her past.) She was covered in dried paint and dirt and sweat from the night before and her hair had a personality of its own. (She named it Daisy.) However, Lily Evans did not drive several hours in a cramped van, spend $300, and fight for a week off of work to miss one of her favorite bands. (It was Pvris. She had a weakness for female headed alt groups. Especially gay, feminist, female headed alt groups.) So, by pure force of will she managed to put on something that resembled a proper outfit, dragged herself out of her tent at 11:30, and struggled her way into the festival.   
(It was a festival. No one really cares what your were wearing anyway. At least, that’s what she told herself.)  
It was 1:30, and while she didn’t have anyone else to see for a couple of hours, the idea of dragging herself back across that bridge and then meandering through the campground kind of made her want to cry. She decided resting her eyes was enough, (fuck sleep. She never got enough anyway) so she plopped down on an empty patch of grass in the shade and closed her eyes.   
(She may have felt like death and her thoughts may have been foggy, but she wasn’t stupid enough to actually fall asleep. She wasn’t up for being mocked on someone’s Instagram or the festival’s Facebook page.)

*J*  
James had lost the other three at some point while being herded through the gates into the festival, (Literally herded. He felt like cattle.) so he decided to make the best of his free time and wander the festival grounds. (There were, like, a million people there. He wasn’t gonna find them.) However, it was too fucking hot to do that without some water, and Sirius had pissed in his water bottle (that reminded him that he needed a new best friend. Remus should be up for it) sometime last night after attempting (and failing) to drink that really hot redhead under the table, making the free water station out of the question. So he corralled into yet another obnoxiously long line to pay for an obnoxiously overpriced water bottle. (He bought two and a beer, cause if he’s gonna waste money, he might as well do it properly).   
He started wandering through the sea of people in the shade (all of whom had very little clothing and vaguely resembled zombies. Granted, he was hardly an exception) when he spotted the previously mentioned redhead. So, in glorious James Potter fashion, he ran his hand through his hair and made his way over there. (He tells himself that it makes him look cool. It doesn’t. He knows this. But James Potter is an anxious little shit who can’t keep still, so he lies to himself.)

*L*  
It had been what had to have been an hour (it had really only been about 5 minutes) when she gave up on ever getting rid of her hangover. (It was a lost cause from the start. She’d have to get back at Mar for initiating the drinking contest at some point.) Instead she tried to just enjoy the shade and the music coming from the EDM Pavilion stage and the vibe around her. (Tried being the operative word. She really wished she hadn’t left her weed at the campsite.)  
She felt someone sit down next to her, so she peeled her eyes open to find hazel ones staring back. (Wow, that made him sound creepy. He wasn’t being creepy. At least, not yet. Lily couldn’t pass her final judgement this early.)   
He had a water in his hand stretched towards her, and she thought she had never seen anyone so beautiful in her life.   
(He had to be a God. Apollo maybe, since he was at a music festival. Or Poseidon, since he brought water.)  
She stumbled out a thanks before practically downing the water in one gulp. He nodded and, then pulled out his phone, switching from app to app to app, never seeming to pause on one specifically. (His hands moved like lightning, but when she could catch up with them she could see that they simultaneously managed to be piano hands and worker’s hands, and she was just a little bit entranced by them. She blames it on the hangover.)  
She spent this time properly observing him, and boy was that a mistake. God damn, he had a perfectly chiseled jawline, with cheek bones to match. His hazel eyes, almost golden in the sunlight, shined behind a pair of stereotypical hipster Ray Bans. (Hipster hippy had always been her aesthetic. And he was killing it.) He was unbelievably tall and gangly, but fit, in a way that only he could pull off. He was extremely toned, (like, she’s pretty sure that’s an 8 pack. And she can see his obliques. His obliques!) a fact that was hard for Lily to miss as he was only wearing a pair of beat up shorts and ratty vans with a Firefly Music Festival bandana tied around his head. (He definitely had to be some sort of music festival God.) His hair was tousled in a way that made her question whether or not it was purposeful or not (not that she cared either way. She just wanted to run her hands through it.)  
“You did, actually. Last night.”  
(Fuck.)  
*J*  
He thought he had pulled off nonchalance well. Until he realized that his fingers were knotted in his hair again and his other hand was taping a rhythm on his phone like a goddamn woodpecker. (Damn.) He shouldn’t have said it, but he was slightly inebriated (he was two beers in by this point, and definitely had a contact high) and had no filter. (He hardly ever had a filter.) This encounter was going at least somewhat not poorly and then… (Fuck.)  
Her whole (very pretty) face dropped in shock and he wished he could curl up inside himself. (Sort of like a turtle.)

*L*  
"How much of that did I say out loud?”  
She couldn’t believe it. She never did things this stupid (sober). (Fuck.)   
And, how in the fuck did she not notice that he was the fucker from last night. The one that made her insides feel like they were on fucking fire before she was even drunk. (It just made her drink more. He, however, did not drink last night. She hadn’t seen him take on sip until just now.) (Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.)  
“Enough,” he said, a smirk playing at his lips (That smirk. She was fucked) , “However, there’s a spot in the crowd for The Wombats with my name on it, so I should get going. See you around.”  
He thought she was stupid. Fuck. Think fast Evans. (He really was hot. And she loved the Wombats. And he was really really hot.)

*J*  
He was the biggest idiot ever. Wow. Okay. Also, he said goodbye, and had yet to get up. Wow.   
(He’s pretty sure his hands are going to be permanently embedded in his hair.)  
Wow. He should really get up now.   
(He says wow a lot. Why does he do that?)  
“Actually, that’s where I was heading soon anyway. Would one lonely, broke, hungover, redhead be too much for you, or could I possibly tag along?”   
God she was amazing.   
“I think there’s room enough for two.”  
“Perfect.”  
(He might be a little in love. She was really hot too.)

*L*  
The Wombats were beautiful. So was he. Lily still hasn’t asked for his name, and couldn’t remember if he had ever given it to her the night before.  
(That whole time was a little fuzzy to be fair.)   
“Lily!”  
She turned around to see an overly excited Mary and Marley, the latter waving a drawstring backpack at her. She grabbed His (capital H intended) hand (he had nice hands to hold) and pulled Him over to her friends, not willing to lose her new… whatever he was.   
“We’ve been texting you for ages.”  
Shit.  
“Phone died during The Wombats. Sorry.”  
“Not a problem, apparently,” Mary said, wiggling her eyebrows in the direction of Him.   
She blushed. Like a Goddamn fire truck. So (when she made sure he wasn’t looking) she did what any mature, self-respecting, college student would do.   
She flipped her off.   
Mary was about to respond when a very loud “Prongs!” Interrupted her.

*J*  
Lily. Of course her name was Lily. It was perfect. (God, he was fucked.)  
His thoughts were disrupted by an obnoxious shout of ‘Prongs!’ from somewhere behind him. (He knew who it was. And he wasn’t sure if he should be excited or not.) (Probably not.).  
“Jesus Christ, Prongs, we lose you in line and can’t find you for 3 fucking hours.”  
(It had been 3 hours? Fuck.) (And there went his hand in his hair again. Fuck.)  
“Been enjoying the music. And waiting in line for a water bottle since some fucker pissed in mine.”  
A chorus of ews rang out behind him and Pads had the decency to at least appear somewhat sheepish (it doesn’t happen often).  
“Um, I don’t mean to be nosey, but what kind of a name is Prawns? Did your mother just really like shrimp?”   
Did his mother just really like shrimp? The brunette one was officially his favorite.   
(After Lily, of course.)   
Sirius snorted. James flipped him off.   
“Nah. It’s a nickname from school. My real name is James. This dick is Sirius. Somewhere there’s Remus and Pete, too.”  
“Oh, well I’m Lily. This genius is Mary (that’s his favorite) and this is Marlene. Dorcas, Alice, and Emmeline are around here somewhere as well. Guess we’ll find them later.”   
The blonde one (Marlene?) spoke up, “You guys up for some Saint Motel?”  
He had no clue who Saint Motel was, but he was up for anything as long as Lily was there.   
(He was so fucking fucked.)   
Following The Wombats’ set (which was fucking fantastic) he had decided that this girl was the best damn thing ever. She was funny and gorgeous. Her eyes were the brightest green he’d ever seen and her hair looked like fucking fire (which was pretty awesome) and she had him dying of laughter over the smallest of things. (Plus, she was covered in painted on flowers. And he, being an art student, loved them.)

*L*  
Some point before Fitz and the Tantrums James’s phone died (Damn. No giving him her number today) and they ran into the rest of both of their groups. His group was an interesting mix of four boys. They were all wearing the same beat up pair of vans and shorts, but Remus had on a tank top along with his rag tag shorts and Pete had on a superhero t-shirt. Sirius, however, had on a nearly identical outfit as James’, but he looked much more like a model for Pac Sun with his man bun and sunset painting that spanned across his back. (Apparently James was an art student. Her heart could hardly handle the news.)  
They all had odd nicknames for each other that apparently had no proper explanation other than school (so explicit), and they seemed to be connected to each other in a way Lily couldn’t even process.   
She loved all four of them immediately. (But don’t you love everyone you meet at a music festival?)

*J*  
The day flew by with all 10 of them grouped together. Everyone had hit off. And James loved all of her friends (not as much as he did her, but still.) Em was like ten feet tall just like him (but she was far more elegant than he could be, even in his dreams) and Alice was almost as awkward as he was (almost. He still had her beat.) Dorcas was insanely chill and was constantly on someone’s shoulders’ during shows and even shared her weed with them. And (this was his favorite part of their groups combining) Mary and Remus had disappeared for an hour during Ellie.   
It was midnight and they could hear Kings of Leon off in the distance, but that hardly mattered to the small group hidden in front of the Treehouse Stage. Alice, Em, and Remus had all wandered off to the campground. (Alice being led by a friend of his from high school named Frank. Knowing what he did about both people, he wasn’t all that worried) (Remus and Em said fuck Kings of Leon and their fuckboy fan base and went to go get high). Sirius and Marley went to Disclosure, and Pete (bless his heart) was somewhere in the crowd for Kings of Leon.   
So, there they were, James, Lily, Dorcas, and Mary, literally leaning on the stage, waiting for a band that only James knew more than one song by (he knew two).   
It was quiet, and late, and they were all exhausted. But James heard that they were great and he loved (pretty much adored) the two songs he did know. And once the band started James practically melted at their feet. (Almost as badly as he fell for Lily.)(He’s pretty sure The Moth & The Flame is his new favorite band.)   
The three girls looked pretty entranced too and they all agreed that for some unknown reason they all felt like The Empire and the Sun was the most relatable song they had ever heard.   
(James was in love with the line “I’m a house on fire, and everyone is leaving.”)  
(So was Lily.)

*L*  
Lily was in love with the little town of Dover, Delaware and their beautiful music festival (and James but that’s besides the point.)   
Lily cried Saturday night during Florence and the Machine. (She didn’t know why. It was just an overwhelming moment. Everything had been overwhelming so far. Especially the mop of black hair next to her.)  
She was high on life (and weed, and James’s obnoxiously tall shoulders) and she never wanted to come down.

*J*  
James was pretty sure that he only ever wanted to see bands at small venues in the woods at 1 a.m for the rest of his life. (Atlas Genius was beautiful. Like, they were very attractive men and were also very very good at what they did.)  
He also wanted to see the drowsy but adoring look on Lily’s face during said sets for the rest of his life. He wasn’t sure if he loved Atlas Genius or her more.  
(Definitely her).

*L*  
She almost died during Blink’s set for James. She’s pretty sure she left her lungs somewhere on the ground near the barricade.   
(It was all worth it to see his face light up. She’s pretty sure heaven is the look on his face during I Miss You. It was beautiful.)

*J*   
James wasn’t ready to pack up and go back to a normal life. He wasn’t ready to head back to working at some lame chain restaurant over the summer because that’s all that his little hometown in Pennsylvania had. He most definitely wasn’t ready to head back to UPenn in the fall. While he loved studying Art, (he really did. Never wanted to do anything but that and possibly soccer with his life) he didn’t want to do anything without Lily ever again.   
But time passes, whether you want it to or not, and suddenly it was Monday morning. They had all said their goodbyes. Alice and Frank, the lucky bastards, both went to Villanova, and promised that this weekend would not be the end of it.   
James was happy for them. He really was. (He was also jealous as fuck, but no one needed to know that.)

*L*  
Lily was pretty sure that she had just experienced the greatest weekend of her life ever. And, she had made four of the greatest friends of her life. And she was dreading heading back to her little waitressing gig tomorrow.   
And maybe if James was heading back to UPenn with her she wouldn’t be so upset.   
(He really was gorgeous in every sense of the word. And Lily had fallen. Hard. Fuck.)

*J*  
The moment Remus took over driving James had her number up. (Her name in his phone was The Flame. His, of course, was The Moth in her’s.) (God. He was so fucked.)  
They didn’t stop texting. Like, ever. And then one day he made some side comment about UPenn’s art program and his stupid summer work and all of a sudden everything fell together.   
(Sirius had laughed his ass off when he told him. ‘A whole month and a half of moping for fucking nothing.’)

*L*   
Their first kiss was on September First.   
(She felt like she was on fire in the best way possible.) (She ran her hands through his hair) (Sober this time.)  
People stared.   
Marlene wolf whistled.   
She flipped her off.

*J*  
Their second kiss was also on September First. And their third. And their fourth. And so many more.   
(They all made him feel like there were moths (yes, moths, not butterflies. Butterflies aren’t manly (or as lovely to paint)) filling up his insides in the best way possible)   
Sirius fake retched.   
Remus clapped for them.   
He flipped them off.

*S*  
Sirius Black had thirteen tattoos. Lily Evans had five tattoos. James Potter had three tattoos.   
(Sirius’s favorite was the stag. Lily’s favorite was the antlers. James said he loved them all, that’s why he fucking got them. But everyone knew he was just a little (a fucking lot) impartial to the moth and the flame.)


End file.
